Party time

Sports briefly

September 24, 1990

IOC to wait and see about Iraq, chief says

The International Olympic Committee has no immediate plans to deal with Iraq over its invasion of Kuwait, IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch said yesterday at the Asian Games in Beijing. The IOC is hoping that events in the Middle East will be calm by the time the next Olympics are held in 1992, Samaranch said at a news conference.

Thursday, the Olympic Council of Asia suspended Iraq and barred it from participating in the Asian Games, which began Saturday. There were fears that Iraqi participation could have led to a boycott by about a quarter of the 37 other members.

Samaranch said the IOC stood by the Asian decision. But he added that the Asian council was forced to act quickly and that the IOC had time on its side.

* Coca-Cola rejected accusations by Greeks that it helped secure the Olympics for Atlanta, its home city.

In a full-page statement published in several Sunday newspapers and titled "Let's Leave Events To Speak For Themselves," the company said it "played no role in the decision on the city that would host the 1996 Olympics."

However, others have linked Atlanta's victory to massive funding by Coca-Cola for the city's publicity campaign.

@

Track and field

The International Amateur Athletic Federation, track and field's governing body, renewed its opposition to any ideas for a big-money match race between sprinters Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis. Johnson's two-year ban for drug use expires today.

"I will never allow it to happen," said Primo Nebiolo, IAAF president. "We do not allow two-horse races."

"We always have said that if Lewis and Johnson race, it should be in a regularly scheduled meeting," said Franco Fava, the IAAF's chief spokesman. "We first said that a long time ago."

Johnson has been in training for several months, but recently he said he would not return to competition until an indoor meet Jan. 11 in Hamilton, Ontario. Lewis said this summer that no rematch with Johnson would come until the 1991 outdoor season.

Colleges

Navy (4-5, 2-2) completed a two-game weekend sweep by beating East Carolina, 2-0, in a Colonial Athletic Association soccer game. The Midshipmen had stopped North Carolina-Wilmington Saturday, 3-2. Leon Wilson and Jono Halverson each scored his second goal of the weekend to back up goalkeeper Van States' first career shutout.

* Navy's heavyweight varsity crew finished a length behind Cambridge University of England in the Grand Finals of the Chicago Regatta on the Chicago River. The Midshipmen had opened the two-day regatta with an 11-second defeat of Wisconsin, and Cambridge scored a 13-second triumph over Oxford. Oxford then edged Wisconsin.

* Salisbury State (4-1) completed a three-game sweep in its Sunfest field hockey round-robin tournament, beating State University of New York-Oneonta, 4-0. Cheryl Ish had two goals, and goalkeeper Liz Leo made eight saves to lead the Sea Gulls. At Johns Hopkins, the Blue Jays (4-0-2) stopped Juniata (4-3), 1-0, on a goal by Donna Williamson.

Tennis

U.S. Open champion Pete Sampras defeated Ivan Lendl for the second time this month, winning, 6-3, 6-3, to capture the inaugural Texas Tennis Shootout in Irving, Texas.

Lendl and Sampras previously met in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, when Sampras, 19, scored a 6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2 upset and went on to become the youngest U.S. Open champion in history.

Hockey

Detroit Red Wings goaltender Greg Stefan is expected to undergo surgery this week on his right knee, coach and general manager Bryan Murray said. It is unknown how long Stefan will be out of action. Stefan played in only seven games last season due to various injuries, including a severe sprain of his right knee.

Boxing must clean up its act if it wants to remain an Olympic event, said Anwar Chowdhry, the head of the International Amateur Boxing Association. Boxing has been severely criticized since the 1988 Olympics because of medical concerns and bad officiating, he said.

"There is a great deal of criticism that our judging is not objective," he said. "And they are right. Let's accept it, there are some political decisions."

Chowdhry said, however, that the development of computerized scoring is improving the situation. He said the association also has begun work to introduce boxing gloves and headgear that have been found to drastically reduce a punch's impact.